Tag Archives: Tom Bogardus

Here is a concert performance, nearly an hour, of one of my favorite chamber-jazz groups ever, the Royal Garden Trio, in a slightly amended state: Mike Karoub on cello, Brian Delaney on guitar, and sitting in for Tom Bogardus on tenor guitar and clarinet, the eminent James Dapogny on piano and trumpet. This rare delight took place at the Franke Center for the Arts, Marshall, Michigan, on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Here are the major landmarks on this delightful musical interlude. The Royal Garden Trio lovingly presents these songs in the most affectionately complete fashion — with their verses, an almost forgotten part of the musical / theatrical presentation, even when you don’t hear the lyrics.

Had you peeked in through my window when I stumbled across this marvel, you would have seen that most odd spectacle of a man seated in front of his computer, applauding a video. It delights me so. . . .not only the three brilliant rocking soloists, but the companionable layering of the three very different but evocative instrumental voices.

As Jake Hanna often said, “PAY ATTENTION!” I direct that summons to PBS, to NPR, to the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall . . . and I am sure you can add other names to this list. Help people find out about the delicious phenomenon that is the Royal Garden Trio.

WYMAN VIDEO is the new brainchild and business venture of Laura Wyman, whom you should know as the CEO and head videographer of JAZZ LIVES’ Michigan Bureau, headquartered in Ann Arbor. She has taste and a dilligent perfectionism.

Before there was a WYMAN VIDEO, Laura was bringing us video of such wonders as this:

All of this would suggest that WYMAN VIDEOis rather like JAZZ LIVES, and it is true that Laura is deeply involved in hot music and swing dance. But her range is far broader than mine: Laura has been capturing speakers, readings, weddings, and other occasions. I don’t think she goes to traffic court or other gloomy events, but I know she’s captured for posterity graduations, parties, swing dances, and other occasions where people gather happily.

So I urge you — if you live in or near Ann Arbor, Michigan, or if you want an expert videographer, contact Laura Wymanfor videography that will help you have swinging memories. And if you are not on Facebook, you can certainly contact her at wymanvideoa2@gmail.com.

I had to post this. It’s so inspiring. Watching Cammie (brave, willing, shy) try to shed her downy feathers on the dance floor — with the inspiring guidance of Erin Morris and the equally inspiring sounds of James Dapogny’s Jazz Band . . . well, anything is possible. Even Peckin’:

Brought to us by the nimble lens, microphone, and tripod of Laura Beth Wyman (“Better living through cinematography.”)

Sing on! Dance on! Play on!

P.S. A medical note. Erin Morris and her Ragdollsnow have over 500 “likes,” so I am sleeping better. But have you done your part? I haven’t verified this yet, but the thousandth person to “like” them, once verified, will receive a free lesson in Peckin’ from Erin herself.

Somehow I don’t think that a troupe of young women dancers should have gone into The Jungle dressed the way they are in the video below. Do I worry too much? No reflection on their handmade costumes, mind you, but they don’t strike me as adequate protection. Where are the machetes, first aid kits, tropical chocolate, water distilling gear, bug repellent?

But they braved The Jungle, they entranced their audience, and we can now see the results of Erin Morris and her Ragdolls, supported by James Dapogny’s Jazz Band, mutually creating something slithery to Jelly Roll Morton’s JUNGLE BLUES:

I especially like the way the quintet keeps subdividing into a trio and a duo: watch the most vivid embodiment of this at 2:58 and again at 3:16: music reflected in physical grace.

Thanks to Laura Beth Wyman, who filmed this delight at the Zal Gaz Grotto, Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 21, 2015.

And a few muttering comments. One refers to the asterisk above, which leads the righteous among us to the Facebook page of Ms. Morris and her Ragdolls. I’ve done my best — leaving aside threats and whinging as unseemly — but so far only 495 people have “liked” the Ragdolls. Is this what Bill Robinson would have us do? Or Walter Page? Knute Rockne? Joan Blondell? William Carlos Williams? Reginald Marsh?

I ask you. Please, so that I sleep longer and happier, “like” them tonight. Now.

I spent several hours in a waiting room today — for boring reasons, nothing serious — where there was the inevitable cable television on, bolted to the wall above our heads. The E! cable channel. I despair, when I think that there is no Dapogny – Morris channel, yet the E! channel blathers on. Well, instead of succumbing to darkness and bleakness, I will watch the video of ST. LOUIS BLUES again. It occurs to me that this package — band and dancers — could be wooed out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for someone willing to uplift the rest of the country. Anyone daring reading this post?

When Jon-Erik Kellso says (a la Louis), “Now we’re going to take you down to my home town,” he is referring to Detroit (to be precise, Allen Park, Michigan) rather than New Orleans, but don’t let those Michigander roots throw you off. Jon-Erik is a connoisseur of gumbo, po’boys, New Orleans night life — he is a most reliable guide there — and he knows and embodies the music very deeply. This set from the September 2013 Jazz at Chautauqua shows this in every note (easily and creatively, working within time-honored repertoire to create lively music).

Jon-Erik’s New Orleanians were, for the occasion, Kerry Lewis, string bass; Pete Siers, drums; John Sheridan, piano; Bob Havens, trombone; Dan Block, clarinet, and guest Tom Bogardus, banjo. Together they created savory home cooking on five New Orleans classics in swinging, loose ways:

‘WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS:

BASIN STREET BLUES:

MUSKRAT RAMBLE:

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS?:

SOUTH RAMPART STREET PARADE:

I know I want second and third helpings of this music, so I hope you will follow me to the 2014 Allegheny Jazz Party — the weekend delight formerly known as Jazz at Chautauqua. Details at the AJP website and Facebook page and even here. It’s not in my nature to push or nag, but I know seating and hotel accommodations are both limited — so don’t be left out!

I have to come out with it: the seventy-five minute span of a compact disc is often too much for me. So when I loaded the first of three discs by the Royal Garden Trio into the car player, I expected the outcome to be the same: restlessness halfway through. No, the Beloved and I (she’s a stern critic herself) played the three discs nonstop during a six-hour drive.

What makes the Royal Garden Trio so delightful is their own restrained eloquence. The world is full of enthusiastic Hot Club spinoffs — very capable musicians, inspired by Django and Stephane. But often the result is “note for note,” which is amazing technically but less so aesthetically, or an overabundance . . . many notes, many choruses, fast tempos, dalling string virtuosity. One part of the brain admires; the other portion asks (in Lester Young’s words) to be told a story.

The members of the RGT have beautiful stories to tell. They are virtuosic as well, but they know that too much is not a good thing. So their solos are thoughtful speech, not diatribes; their notes ring and resound in the air. Each player creates compelling melodies, and they work together like a swing version of the Budapest Quartet.

Since I often find the heirs to Grappelli are given to excessive sweetness and high drama, I am thrilled by Karoub’s cello: earnest, dark yet lithe. Mike’s conception is never overblown, but his solos can be majestic. Delaney’s guitar is part Lang, part Lonnie Johnson. Bogardus romps on his guitar and his clarinet playing is easy, fervent, balancing Dodds and klezmer. And the trio works together to create something beautiful, varied, and cheering. Their performances are marvelous vignettes, the guitarists switching lead and rhythm, Bogardus playing a chorus on clarinet; Karoub bowing and then plucking in a propulsive manner (across bar lines) that recalls Steve Brown.

And they swing — without even trying hard.

Although much of the repertoire is familiar, the trio’s approach lifts it up: I never found myself saying, “Oh, another ST. LOUIS BLUES,” but was excited by what this band can do. And the CDs offer some less-played material as well: Ellington’s SATURDAY NIGHT FUNCTION, LOUISIANA FAIRY TALE (for the home-improvement minded among us, but this time with the verse), THERE’LL COME A TIME, RAGGIN’ THE SCALE, I’M FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES, GO INTO YOUR DANCE, a hidden track of APRIL KISSES, and some winding originals that sound like theme music for mid-Thirties screwball comedy films.

To find out more, visit the Trio’s website: http://www.theroyalgardentrio.com/sched.html. And if you feel moved to purchase all three discs (I recommend this) ask for the JAZZ LIVES discount. These players (and their nimble friends) will bring joy, in or out of the car.